The Finnish car market is still undergoing the after-effects of the tax hike that occurred on April 1, with sales down 44% year-on-year in May at 7,139 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total into negative at 58,550 units, down 1.5% on 2011. The VW Golf is the best-selling model in the country this month and for the first time since June 2011 with 322 sales and 4.5% share. It is still #5 year-to-date at 1,964 units and 3.4% vs.#2 in 2011. The Toyota Yaris manages to maintain itself at an excellent 2nd place with 301 sales and 4.2% and is #4 ytd vs. #11 in 2011.

Up 7 spots on last month, the Skoda Octavia rounds up the podium at 281 units and 3.9% and is followed by the Ford Focus at 3.2% and the Toyota Avensis at 3.1%, still leader of the 2012 year-to-date ranking with 2,785 sales and 4.8% share. Improving on an already exceptional month of April, the Kia Rio is up one rank to a brilliant 6th place at 209 units and 2.9%.

Other great performers this month include the Honda Civic coming out of nowhere (or at least outside the Top 30) to land #11 in May with 161 sales and 2.3%, the VW Polo up to #12 at 132 units and 1.8% and the Hyundai i30 new generation up to #18 with 96 sales and 1.3%.